Kill Bill Volume 1

Reviewed by:
Paul Ulane

Take out the precocious dialogue, obscure pop references, and Uma Thurman; substitute subtitled Japanese dialogue, Star Trek references, and, shit…actually, leave Uma Thurman in there. In Kill Bill Volume 1, Quentin Tarantino bucks most of his traditional filmmaking tactics in favor of a wicked kung fu revenge tale centered around his go-to leading lady.

Our journey begins with the wholesale slaughter of a wedding party by a gang of ruthless assassins, culminating with the murder of the Bride (Thurman) and her unborn child—or so they think. When she awakens from a coma four years later, the unnamed Bride is ready to unleash some serious payback, counting down a list of the culprits who, as it turns out, are all former colleagues.

Sure, Tarantino can get carried away in his own eccentricity, but his self-indulgent paeans to shlocky ’70s cinema are not only excused, they actually strengthen the storytelling. And instead of letting the over-the-top, cartoonish violence devolve into fluff, Tarantino’s strengths—soundtrack, angles, blood—steer it right back to respectability for some of the most awesomely brutal, appropriately comedic killing we’ve seen on film.